


Everlasting Spirit

by ElisaPhoenix



Series: Supreme Family Chaos [100]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Avengers Family, Big Brother Harley Keener, Celestial Peter Quill, Domestic Avengers, Family Fluff, Foreign Language, Gen, Hurt Stephen Strange, Implied/Referenced Torture, Kidnapping, M/M, Mama Bear Stephen Strange, Other, Protective Avengers, Protective Bucky Barnes, Protective Harley Keener, Protective James "Rhodey" Rhodes, Protective Peter Quill, Protective Scott Lang, Protective Steve Rogers, Protective Tony Stark, The Avengers Are Good Bros, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Tony Stark/Stephen Strange Parenting Peter Parker | Supremefamily | Strange Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-28
Updated: 2020-01-01
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:55:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,251
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21999334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElisaPhoenix/pseuds/ElisaPhoenix
Summary: Stephen was just picking his daughter up from school. He would be gone five minutes tops.
Relationships: Tony Stark/Stephen Strange
Series: Supreme Family Chaos [100]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1364899
Comments: 38
Kudos: 385





	1. Chapter 1

"Mama!"  
Stephen groans softly when Valerie continues to call for him from her crib. "Tony...the baby." Without opening his eyes, he reaches out toward Tony's side of the bed when his husband doesn't answer, and his hand meets cold sheets. "Tony?"

The sorcerer cracks his eyes open to look on the engineer's side of the bed and frowns when he finds it empty. He grabs his phone from the nightstand to check the time and his eyebrows shoot up into his hairline when he finds that it was past ten in the morning. Stephen stretches out the kinks that had formed while sleeping and then asks Victor to open the blinds that Tony no doubt asked Friday to keep down until Stephen woke up on his own.

"Ma!" Valerie repeats.  
Stephen sighs. "Yes cub. I heard you the first time." 

He sits up groggily before slipping out of bed, motioning for Athena to stay when the wolf lifts her head curiously. He steps over to the crib and lifts Valerie from it, and lays her on the bed near Athena while he grabs some diaper supplies from the closet. The wolf noses the baby curiously and Valerie coos when Athena starts to lick her, and Stephen gently grabs her muzzle to push away with a click of his tongue.

"Stop that."

Stephen ignores the wolf's annoyed huff as he changes his daughter's diaper, and then he picks her up and holds her in one of his arms before he heads out of the bedroom. Athena follows dutifully once she hops down from the bed and the sorcerer puts his youngest daughter in her high chair so he can give her some cereal puffs to snack on while he makes breakfast for him and Tony. He naturally asked Victor if his husband even ate breakfast just in case by some miracle he had, but his AI confirms Stephen's go-to assumption. Tony only had coffee.

The doctor cooks bacon, eggs, sausage, and hash browns after feeding his wolf her breakfast, and looks over to the elevator when it opens and Sam walks onto the floor.

"Hey Mama Bear. Have any orange juice up here?" He asks.  
Stephen points to the fridge with the spatula in his hand. "We should if Scott hasn't gotten to it. Late breakfast?"  
"More like a second one. I worked up an appetite while I was working out with Steve and Bucky."  
"You're more than welcome to join us. I always make extra." Stephen offers as Sam walks over to the fridge and grabs the carton of juice.  
"Thanks. Beats the cereal I have."

Stephen fills a plate for Sam as he sits at the island, and just as he sets the plate in front of the darker male, the elevator opens again. Tony walks out with Tibbs on his shoulder, and makes a beeline for Valerie to kiss her all over her face and earning a quiet giggle from the baby. Stephen had to partially tune out his husband when he started speaking to their daughter fondly in Italian, but still found himself smiling regardless. Tony constantly spoke to their children in different languages so they could learn them (Peter and Harley being fluent in quite a few because of it), but also just to show affection. Italian was his primary language for that. For the kids _and_ Stephen, although some things were kept behind closed doors when it came to the sorcerer since the three older kids were fluent.

"No _topolina_ , those are for you." Tony kindly rejects Valerie's silent offer of her cereal puffs as the engineer sits in the chair closest to the highchair. "Get down furball."  
Sam snorts when Tibbs hops down to the floor from Tony's shoulder. "Your older trolls at school?"  
"You know, I think they're possessed because Friday didn't wake me up to make sure they got up and all that jazz." Tony starts. "I woke up by myself and she told me they got up, ate breakfast, and left for school."  
Stephen gives Tony a look. "The boys took Diana to school?"  
"They walked Cassie to school too. I called their schools to make sure and they all said the kids were accounted for." Tony confirms and Sam swallows his mouthful of food before responding.  
"I agree with the boss. They're possessed."

Stephen chuckles as he turns off the stove and fills a couple more plates with food for him and Tony, and then carries them over to the table. While possession was a real thing, Friday eased Stephen's mind when she told them they the kids were acting like they normally did, but Harley wanted to give their parents some time to sleep in. It was one of the times he stepped into a mature role so Tony and Stephen could take a well deserved break, and the sorcerer was already trying to think of a way to thank their oldest son.

Peter did similar things to Harley when he wanted to help his parents relax, but cooking was not one of them. Stephen was almost positive the spiderling gave up on cooking after he burnt that casserole so long ago and had Dum-E bury him in fire extinguisher foam. Diana just played quietly until Cassie was awake and then went downstairs to play with her until Tony or Stephen called her back upstairs.

He didn't know how they got so lucky, but they were. They had amazing kids, and even though they all fought like typical siblings and got into some trouble (especially superhero trouble when it came to the boys), there were days they behaved long enough to let their overworked parents rest. Other times they saved each other's lives, like Harley had done for Peter when he was impaled by the Rhino. They fed and changed Valerie sometimes, built and played in pillow forts with Diana and watched endless amounts of Disney movies, and Harley sometimes helped Peter on his patrols.

Speaking of patrols.

"Tony." Stephen says softly to get his husband's attention.  
"Yeah?" The engineer responds as he feeds Valerie some eggs.  
"Can you take a look at my suit? Last time I was dimension hopping, one of my legs didn't get covered properly."  
Tony looks over at the doctor and holds his hand out until Stephen removes his nanotech bracelet and hands it over. "Did it stop altogether or did the nanites try to cover your leg…?"  
"They tried, but there were still holes."  
"Some of them probably just need repairs. I'll give it a look once we're finished eating." Tony promises.

Stephen nods and watches his husband return his attention to their daughter once he pockets the bracelet, and they both find her patiently waiting for some more of Tony's scrambled eggs. They were pleased to find that she was not a very picky eater and generally enjoyed anything they offered her with the exception of green beans and lemons. They only knew about the lemons because Harley one day decided he wanted to see how his baby sister would react after chewing on a lemon wedge, and Valerie had the typical response. A puckered mouth followed by a look of betrayal that had her three older siblings (and even _Cassie_ ) howling with laughter. By some miracle, Valerie wasn't put off from orange slices because of it, but she would still eye them warily if her brothers were the ones feeding them to her.

Just like she watched Quill carefully whenever he fed her something green. She still hadn't forgiven him for feeding her green beans.

Sam finished his breakfast and thanked Stephen before heading back downstairs, and Tony thanked the sorcerer with a kiss after putting his plate in the dishwasher. The engineer went back down to the lab to take a look at Stephen's suit, and the doctor himself cleaned up the kitchen and his daughter before allowing Levi to take her. The cloak coddles and swings the baby while Stephen sits on the couch to read, and Athena joins her master on the couch and lays her head on one of his thighs. Stephen enjoyed the periodic coo from Valerie as he read his novel and gently pet his wolf's head, and when the giggles and coos die down into silence, Levi gently deposits her into the nearby playpen. It wasn't quite time for a nap, but she would play with her teddy bear until she either fell asleep or demanded her mother's attention.

Of course, today was a day for Stephen's attention. Valerie called quietly for him and the sorcerer had Levi pick her back up and bring her over to him, and he grabbed one of her books through a small gateway after he got her situated comfortably against him. Valerie had a full belly and a clean diaper, so now all she wanted was for Stephen to read her a book before she took a nap. It was an early afternoon ritual for her. 

Stephen had to stop Athena from nosing the baby when Valerie fell asleep halfway through the book, but the wolf simply laid her head back on the sorcerer's thigh with another annoyed huff. The doctor ignored her as he carefully situated his daughter so that he can read again, and subconsciously listened to her soft breaths as she slept. It was one of the things that helped him relax...listening to his kids breathe. He mostly heard Valerie, especially since she slept in the master bedroom with him and Tony, but every once in a while he would catch one of the three older kids napping.

Whenever he had a nightmare concerning the kids, he went into their rooms to check on them and _listen_ as a quick way to ease his conscious so he could go back to sleep. Then there were those rare mornings Stephen and Tony woke up to all four kids in their bed, and one time he woke up to find Valerie's foot in her father's face. Diana was comfortably snug next to Stephen, Peter had draped himself across both parents with his head on Stephen's hip (the sorcerer had been sleeping on his side that morning), and Harley laid across the end of the bed with Athena.

Tony and Stephen had never been so thankful for a king sized bed, especially when another one of those mornings found Cassie in their bed too. That only happened when Scott was out of town and Quill was off earth, and she usually saved Tony from a kick to the face by laying next to him and putting Valerie in between her and Diana.

Friday took a picture each time the kids were found on their bed.

"Doctor, Diana will be getting out of school soon." Victor suddenly says and Stephen gently nudges Athena so the wolf could get up. Once she jumps off the couch, the sorcerer carefully puts Valerie in her playpen.  
"Is Tony still in the lab?"  
"Yes. Should I ask him to come up or pick up your daughter?"  
"No, I'll go pick her up. Who's currently in the tower?" Stephen asks his AI. "Actually, is Wanda here?"  
"Yes."  
"Ask her if she's willing to watch the baby for a few minutes, and if she is, have her come up."

There really was no if. There were only two reasons members of the team wouldn't watch Valerie, and one was if they were just about to leave, or if they were sick and _contagious_. Natasha had been sick a few weeks ago and had been grumpy the entire time because she loved spending time with the baby of the family. Especially when Quill wasn't hogging her. Of course, the god rubbed it in her face every chance he could, and when Nat was feeling better, she got sweet revenge.

All Stephen knew was that it had to do with sending Scott away to a fake meeting. Just after Quill returned from two weeks out in space. They had a very irritable god on their hands until Scott came home.

"You called?" Wanda says, interrupting Stephen's thoughts as she walks over to join him at the playpen.  
"Yes. I just need you to watch her for a few minutes while I go pick up Diana. She's at the end of her nap so she might wake up while I'm gone."  
"No problem."

Stephen thanks her and disappears through a portal, leaving Wanda with his daughter and an irritated wolf. He would be back in five minutes, the wolf could deal with not being able to come with him.

=============

"Tony."

The engineer looks up from Stephen's nanotech bracelet and finds Wanda standing by the door with Valerie on her hip and looking concerned.

"What's up Red?"  
Wanda opens her mouth to respond, but Friday interrupts her. "Boss, you have a call from the elementary school. They're asking if anyone will be by to pick up Diana."  
"Tony…" Wanda starts. "Stephen left to pick her up half an hour ago."  
The engineer drops his tools and straightens. "Friday, where's Mom? Track his phone."  
A few moments pass. "I can't find him Boss."

Tony stares at the nanotech on his workbench and tries to keep himself from hyperventilating. Stephen never made it to Diana's school? How? The sorcerer always portaled to the closest alleyway or empty street whenever he went to pick up their daughter and it was only a block away. Had someone been watching Stephen's movements and grabbed him?

"Oh my god!" Wanda uses her free hand to magically move a chair under Tony when he collapses. "Tony, breathe!" She commands when she rushes over to him.

He did. After he laid his forehead on Wanda's other hip and grabbed the back of her shirt to ground himself. It took him a few moments to gather himself so he could think again, but he didn't move away from or let go of the witch. He was afraid he would freak out again if he did.

"Friday, is Quill home?" Tony wheezes out.  
"No Boss. He's currently in the middle of a shift at the station."  
"Call him. Ask him to cut it short."

Friday did so after telling the elementary school that someone would be by to pick Diana up shortly, and the AI told Tony that Quill was on his way to the school. The engineer would only feel better once Diana got home, and while he knew there were others currently in the tower that were capable of picking up his daughter, Tony wanted to put a god between her and Stephen's supposed captors. That was the only explanation for the sorcerer's disappearance. He even had Friday send a message to Karen and Sara that the boys were to go home immediately after school, and then finally took a little more time to calm himself. Wanda said nothing as Tony continued to cling to her, she just threaded her fingers through his hair periodically when she wasn't amusing Valerie with her powers.

Her hands didn't shake though.


	2. Chapter 2

All of the kids made it home safely much to Tony's relief. It either meant the kids weren't targeted as well or he made the right decision in having Quill picking up Diana. Maybe it was both. Maybe Diana had been a target but the boys weren't. At least not yet. Tony didn't want to risk it though.

They would be put on lockdown until Stephen was found...he just had to tell them.

"None of you kids are leaving the tower until further notice." Tony says and both the boys protest loudly.  
"What?! Why?! I have to go to school! I have decathlon!" Peter complains. "And Spiderman!"  
"That party is tonight too and you said I could go!" Harley adds and Tony grimaces.  
"I've already notified your school. Diana and Cassie's too."  
Harley snorts. "Who threatened us this time?"  
Tony exhales shakily. "Whoever took Mom."

Absolute silence. Both Harley and Peter looked like they wanted to either puke or protest Tony's lockdown even more but they couldn't figure out which one to do first. They remained quiet as the team slowly gathered on the family floor, Wanda still holding Valerie and distracting her from the growing tension in the air, and Athena lying down by Tony's feet and whining. Even she knew something was wrong because of said tension and how distressed Tony was.

Since the engineer was on the edge of losing it, Steve and Rhodey stepped up.

"We have a code blue." The captain starts. "Which means Stephen has been taken and we have no way of tracking him. Tony has already checked the cameras near Diana's school--"  
Harley's head snaps up. "Wait! Where's Dia?!"  
"Downstairs with Cass." Quill answers. "I pulled her out of school early when Tony called me and asked me to pick up Diana after telling me what happened."  
"Wait. What about Wong? Can he do that spell with the hair to track Stephen?" Bruce asks and Rhodey shakes his head.  
"We already asked. He says that spell is only something the Sorcerer Supreme can use."  
"So we need some of us on the streets." Steve points at Wanda, Scott, and Sam. "You guys are the least recognizable. See if you hear anything or find any clues. Start at the school."

The three of them nod and after Wanda hands Valerie over to Peter, they step onto the elevator to leave the tower. As soon as the elevator doors close, Steve sticks other members on video surveillance and any other way they can think of finding out what happened to their matriarch. Quill was given a special assignment.

"Look for him." Steve says.  
"Needle in a haystack much?" Quill grumbles.  
"I mean with your Gaze." The captain elaborates and the celestial frowns.  
"It only works for Scott and the girls."  
"Try anyway. It's our best chance of finding him right now."

Tony didn't even have to beg. Quill just looked at him and the distraught look on his face, and his eyes filled in with their galaxy colors as he started his search. Tony knew the celestial knew exactly what the engineer was going through because he had gone through it when Scott was taken. Not to mention this was _Stephen_ they were talking about. Of course, if any member was taken, they would do everything to get them back, but Mama Bear was a special case.

"What do we do?" Harley asks.  
Tony rubs his face. "Help with your sisters...and please stay in the tower. I don't want to add to the risk of losing any of you again."

===============

Stephen woke with a groan, but it never made it past his lips. Duct tape was placed over his mouth and his hands were bound behind the back of the chair he was sitting in. His vision was blurry from the drugs he was taken down with and it took some extra blinking for the fuzziness to fade a bit and then find another man sitting in a chair across from him.

How long had he been sitting there? The entire time he was unconscious? He was cleaning some knives, so it was a big possibility.

"It's about time you woke up." His captor says. "Not that I'm really complaining. You're pretty nice to look at even when you sleep so it's no wonder Stark keeps you around." Stephen narrows his eyes and glares at the man, not faltering a bit when a knife is placed under his chin. "I'd tell you to use your words but I know all about your magic. Can't have you muttering incantations."

Stephen cringes when the man grabs his jaw and tilts his head so he can move just close enough that the sorcerer can feel his breath on his neck. He felt a new level of sympathy for what Scott went through when he was taken, but Stephen had a much smaller chance at being found when he remembered that he gave Tony his suit just that morning (or had a full day passed already?). He didn't have his suit, his phone was likely missing or destroyed, his sling ring was missing, and his hands were bound. He couldn't use his magic unless his hands were free, and the captor was smart enough to tape his mouth as well.

All that and Stephen didn't have a celestial that could see him either. It would take a miracle for him to be found because he knew for a fact the alleyway he portaled to didn't have a camera in it.

"I'll take the tape off if you promise to behave." The man whispers into his ear and Stephen shivers in disgust. The man took it as agreement and ripped the duct tape off of the sorcerer's mouth after backing away some, and Stephen groaned quietly at the brief sting. "I bet you're wondering why I took you in the first place."  
Stephen seethes. "Among other things. You must be incredibly stupid to take me after what happened with Thanos."

Stephen was normally one who chose his words wisely before he spoke them, but this wasn't one of those times and his captor didn't take kindly to being called stupid. In fact, he backhanded Stephen without any warning and it had been hard enough to bust open the doctor's lip. Stephen didn't make any pained noises though. He just glared at the man again when he pressed the tip of his knife closer to Stephen's throat. This guy just sealed his doom by leaving physical evidence of harm on Stephen. If Tony found him, his husband was going to destroy this man.

"That isn't what I consider behaving." The man hisses and Stephen stops himself from swallowing as the blade would likely cut him if he did. "I've been watching the Avengers for a while now." He starts before moving away from the sorcerer again and taking his knife with him, letting Stephen breathe a little.  
"You wouldn't be the first...and definitely not the last." Stephen snarks.  
"I've been watching long enough to know that the one with actual authority is you."  
"How in the world did you come up with that conclusion?" The doctor responds with feigned indifference.  
"There's enough footage of the team and how they respond to you during battle...and I've gathered my own evidence." The man walks over to a nearby table and grabs a small stack of photos. "For example, I know the true identities of Spiderman and Rescue."

Stephen had to keep himself from reacting and giving his fear away. This man could easily be bluffing. He still didn't know what his objective was, but Stephen wasn't about to confirm his captor's assumptions if he didn't really have evidence. Even if he did, the sorcerer would try to play it off anyway.

When the man (who had continued to talk and introduced himself as Orion; Stephen figured it was a fake name) picked up the photos and showed them to Stephen, the doctor's mouth went dry. Pictures of each Avenger and of his kids. Including his daughters, Cassie, and the Barton kids. There were photos of Peter and Harley in their suits without their masks, some of the Avengers like Sam and Natasha out and about (which Stephen was surprised Natasha hadn't caught the man), Cassie and Diana on one of their regular shopping trips with a chaperone, and Orion even managed to get a picture of Valerie when Tony took her to work with him one day.

"This just makes you a typical stalker." Stephen manages to say evenly.  
"You're the one that holds that team together, so I thought to myself...what would happen if I took the sorcerer out of the picture? How quickly would they fall apart?" Orion tosses the pictures back in the direction of the table and they scatter all over it and the floor.  
"You overestimate my influence--"  
"No. I really don't." The other man interrupts. "Even if I did, I would still wonder how far Stark would go to get you back. Maybe not enough to get the Accords rewritten again...so I wondered about the god." Stephen very minutely stiffens. "I'm not talking about the Asgardians either. I'm talking about the one that goes berserk. I know only one person can truly calm him down, but what if that person were to be taken...killed?"

 _Global destruction_. Was that what Orion wanted? No, it couldn't be. Scott would have been the one taken, _killed_ , if that was his objective. Stephen could only think that this was some revenge on Tony or the Avengers as a whole. Maybe he was trying to tear the team apart? Orion kept talking about Stephen's supposed authority over them.

"...then I thought of a better idea." Orion continues and the doctor realizes he hadn't stopped talking. "What better way to break the Avengers than to break you?"

Stephen gasps out in pain when his captor sinks one of his knives just deep enough into his thigh to make him bleed but not hit anything vital. Either Orion did his research or he was just giving Stephen a taste of what the future held for him. The blade stopped after a good few inches before the bloodied knife was held up to the sorcerer's face with a sickening smile on the face of the one holding it.

"I'll leave your pretty face for last."  
Stephen shudders from the stinging in his leg. "I'm no stranger to torture or even death. I don't know what you're trying to get out of this, but if you think I'll beg for mercy, you've taken the wrong person."  
"I can always take one of your children. Torture them in front of you until they scream. Maybe then you'll beg for mercy. It's up to you."

He felt himself paling at the mention of his kids. Stephen would rather die than let one of them be subject to this sick bastard's torture, and he knew that Tony would probably put them under house arrest, but Stephen would bet money that the boys would manage to slip out anyway. Especially once they knew their pseudo mother was kidnapped. He hoped that whatever deity was listening that he would somehow survive this so Peter and Harley didn't lose another parent. Another mother.

Yes, Stephen was a man and was put into the maternal position by Peter once upon a time, but it grew on him. He loved being that for his children, and he even stopped caring when the rest of the team called him some form of mom. He was so invested into the role that he couldn't imagine living his life without it. Without his kids, without the team...or without Tony. His past self would probably scoff at the very idea, but now Stephen had a family. A loud, obnoxious, annoying, and sigh-inducing one...but a family nonetheless.

The team _had_ to be starting their search already. 

Stephen still had to watch his kids grow up, especially Valerie since he brought her into this world, their family, so he could have a second chance to raise a child properly. He wanted to see Diana grow up and graduate, he wanted to see the boys take over Tony's company and continue to build it...and he wanted to spend every second he had left with Tony before death eventually took his husband away. Something that would hopefully happen from old age.

Tony had at least another twenty years, and Stephen was already causing the older man irritation by throwing away his hair dye or intercepting the order. The sorcerer loved the silver in his husband's hair and he had to make it through this so he can tell him that. No matter how much Tony might complain that he really was looking more and more like Stephen's sugar daddy.

He didn't care about any of that. He loved Tony for the heart of gold he had buried under the icy front he portrayed. His looks were just a bonus.

"What do you gain from all of this?" Stephen finally asks.  
"When I break you, it will break the Avengers and the world will know they aren't as tough as they seem."  
"Some of us may have powers but we're still human. We have emotions. We just know that if we panic then it can cause widespread panic."  
"Which is why you're in for a very hard time. I _will_ break you before they ever find us."  
"You can _try_." Stephen challenges with another glare.

He was then promptly knocked out.


	3. Chapter 3

_Get some rest_.

Tony wanted to punch them in the face. They wanted him to rest while his wife was god knows where going through who knows what? All because he snapped at Diana when she was asking where her mother was…

Fuck. He was an asshole. His daughter was just as scared as everyone else and went to her father for some kind of reassurance and he almost yelled at her. Told her if he knew where Stephen was, then he would probably be home by now. Tony instantly felt guilty afterwards, but before he could apologize, Rhodey _shoved_ him toward the stairs and told him to lay down. Tony was no stranger to being up for days on end, but it had only been a little over twenty four hours and he was on edge. That's what happened when he was endlessly stressing about getting his spouse home safely.

Now, an hour after the incident, Tony continued to toss back and forth in bed. It was all wrong. Valerie wasn't in her crib since she was currently being taken care of by the team, Stephen wasn't next to him to fill some of the empty space of their bed...hell...he even got used to having Athena sleeping at the foot of their bed. She was currently with Diana and comforting her since Tony made her cry.

Tony groans and rubs his face when he rolls onto his back to look up at the ceiling. The room was too empty. He was so used to hearing Stephen breathing softly next to him, that the silence was grating on his nerves even more. There was no way he would be able to sleep like this. So he sits up before getting out of bed and he blearily shuffles out of the master bedroom and looks over the railing into the living room below. Some of the Avengers sat around with tablets to go through security footage over and over, and it was unnervingly quiet. They were all tired, but they were just as devoted to finding Stephen as Tony was.

They still got some sleep though. Steve had a point when he said that looking through footage or out on the streets while exhausted could easily make them miss something vital, so they rested when it got to be too much. He also said that Stephen would have lectured them and there were no arguments. Only Quill and Tony ignored Steve's logic.

Tony for obvious reasons, but Quill because he was committed to finding the sorcerer with his Gaze by any means necessary. He hadn't stopped searching since the captain gave him his assignment, and he was actually starting to wear a hole in the carpet from all the pacing he was doing. Not even Scott could coerce the god to take a nap so the thief stayed up in the penthouse on the couches while Quill continued his search. Cassie kept Diana company in her room, Wanda and Natasha took turns with the baby and when the witch wasn't babysitting she was cooking or out on the streets, and everyone else continued with what Steve and Rhodey assigned them to do. 

The Avengers rarely left the penthouse. They all just crashed somewhere in the living room.

Right now, Quill was still pacing and searching with his Gaze, Natasha and Scott were dozing on the couches, Wanda was cooking while keeping an eye on Valerie in her high chair...and Diana was coloring in one of her books with her brothers and Cassie. Even from upstairs, Tony could see that she was still upset and it made his heart drop into his stomach. _He_ was the reason for it and he needed to fix it.

Tony walks down the stairs and into the living room, internally cringing when Diana looks up at him before immediately looking back down at her book. With a deep breath, the engineer sits at the coffee table with the kids (and a soft groan; he was getting too old for this) and slowly reaches over to run his fingers through his older daughter's hair.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you _piccola_. That wasn't fair to you and you didn't deserve it."  
Diana drops her crayon and looks up at her father. "I forgive you...Uncle Rhodey just said you were tired and scared. Is that true?"  
Tony sighs. "Yes."  
"Did you get some sleep?" Rhodey asks when he walks into the living room and the engineer looks over at him.  
"I tried. I couldn't." Tony admits and sighs when Diana moves over to him and crawls into his lap to hug him. "I can't lose him again Platypus."  
"We're not going to stop looking."

Tony looks from Rhodey over to Quill and watches the celestial pace and grumble to himself as he runs his fingers through his hair. He could tell the endless focusing was wearing on the god. Every once in a while he would either rub the back of his neck or rub the side of his head with the palm of his hand (Quill must have formed a killer headache), he was visibly exhausted based on his body language, and he even growled at anyone that suggested he take a break for a few minutes.

"Me and Dad already tried." Cassie says from the other side of the table.  
"He kind of did what you did to Dia." Peter says and Tony cringes before whispering another apology to the little girl in his lap and kissing the top of her head.  
"Don't piss him off. I can't handle an angry god right now. Especially if there's a chance that Scott can't--"

Quill suddenly halts in his tracks and inhales sharply, and when Tony saw the perturbed look on his face, he wasn't sure whether to be worried or hopeful. What did he see? It had to be Stephen, but did he really want an answer to his question? Tony didn't like the look on his face.

" _I see him._ " Quill finally manages to croak out.  
Everyone, including the ones who had been dozing, immediately direct their attention to the celestial. "Do you know where he is?" Steve asks and Quill remains quiet for a few moments.  
"Not really...but I know how to get there."

=============

It hurt to breathe.

Orion beat him, cut him, electrocuted him...any form of torture that would hurt him without killing him or starting a slow death. He was bruised and hurting and it was difficult to keep his head up in the new position he found himself in. With his wrists bound above his head in chains hanging from the ceiling. Surprisingly the torture he went through was similar to the many deaths he experienced with Dormammu, but the only difference was that the pain never went away. He couldn't heal himself with his magic, but no matter how much pain he was in, he refused to break like his captor wanted him to.

The more pained noises he held back, the angrier Orion got. He was getting frustrated that Stephen hadn't broken as quickly as he possibly wanted him to, and the sorcerer continued to sass him. Not the greatest idea on his part, but it helped keep Stephen sane.

Stephen manages to bite back most of another pained groan when leather harshly meets the skin of his back again, and ignores the warmth running down his back. He lost count of the lashings he received in the last ten minutes. Maybe ten minutes? He used to be the protector of the Time Stone, but now time meant nothing to him. He didn't even know how long he had been here.

He never gave up hope that his family was looking for him though.

"I have to hand it to you." Orion says after finally lowering his current weapon of choice (something Stephen didn't bother identifying). "You're tough. I can tell you still have hope that the Avengers will find you."  
"They will." Stephen rasps. "...and they won't show you any more mercy than you've shown me. I can't even promise you'll come out of this alive."  
His captor harrumphs. "I can't promise that for you either. Even if they do manage to find us, you'll be long dead."  
"I wouldn't count on it." Another voice says.

It was music to Stephen's ears. Orion looked around the room in confusion when he saw no one else in the vicinity, and that's when Scott grew to normal size, grabbed the man's arm, and threw him over his shoulder. If he weren't hurting so much, Stephen would have smirked at the look of surprise Orion had on his face when Scott seemingly came out of nowhere. Everything else happened far too quickly for the doctor to process after that. He remembered the door being kicked off its hinges by Steve and Bucky, and then suddenly Tony was in front of him. His husband's armor crawls back into its housing unit as he grabs Stephen as gently and carefully as possible (no doubt that he asked Friday where it was safe to do so), and someone else released him from his bindings. 

Stephen barely had the strength to drape his arms over Tony's shoulders when more pain followed his release. That was when he finally let a pained whimper escape.

"I got you." Tony whispers soothingly into his ear. "We found you baby."  
"My cubs…" Stephen croaks out miserably.  
"All at home and safe. They want their mom."

Comforting warmth suddenly envelops him and Stephen shudders when his pain begins to slowly ebb away. Only one other person had the magical ability to heal and the sorcerer had never been so glad for Quill as he was now. He was thankful for _all of them_. Stephen only truly let his guard down when Bucky dragged Orion out of the room with Steve following and giving the man the _nastiest_ glare the doctor had ever seen on him. He honestly wasn't sure what was going to happen to Orion now and couldn't find it in him to care.

"You have no idea how badly I want to follow them and give him the same treatment--" Tony starts until Stephen tightens his hold on him a little more.  
"Tony...please." Stephen whispers. "Just hold me."

He did. Once he and Scott stopped Quill from healing Stephen any more (the celestial was already exhausted from his search; healing just drained him even more), and made sure Quill wasn't in danger of passing out, they helped Stephen to the waiting Quinjet outside. Sam had found his sling ring in another room, but Stephen was too exhausted to create a portal to the tower and instead trusted Clint to fly them back home safely. 

Tony only stopped holding him for the period of time it took to get Stephen settled in the medbay and for Bruce to make sure he wasnt in any danger from the torture he sustained. If he had been, Quill had taken care of it, so now the sorcerer was just sore and a little bit injured. The moment he was bandaged and put on painkillers, Tony got on the bed and held Stephen against his chest as tightly as possible without hurting him.

"Please don't let the kids see me like this." Stephen pleads and Tony shushes him as he gently pets his hair.  
"No matter how badly they want to see you, they won't come until you're ready." The engineer promises. "Try to get some sleep _tesoro_."  
"Don't leave."  
"Wouldn't dream of it. I'll be right here when you wake up."

Stephen let himself truly relax then. His husband's smell of coffee and motor oil soothing him into sleep, and again when he had a nightmare. He dreamed he was back in the cold room with concrete walls and being tortured in some way or another, and then woke struggling in Tony's embrace. It took Stephen a couple of minutes to remember where he was and sobbed out an apology when he calmed down. His husband only hushed him again and mumbled softly in Italian to help the doctor relax again, and pet his hair until Stephen fell asleep again.

As far as Stephen was aware, Tony never left his side until the sorcerer woke up properly. Only then did he leave to use the bathroom and physically check on their kids. Steve was the one that sat in a chair next to his bed to keep him company until Tony came back.

"How long have I been asleep?" Stephen asked quietly, gaining the captain's attention from the movie on the tv.  
"A while. That's good though." Steve answers.  
"What happened to...him?"  
A dark look very briefly crosses the captain's face. "We took care of him."

Stephen decided he didn't want to know that badly. Not with the look Steve had. It was enough to tell him that Orion wouldn't be threatening him or anyone else anymore.

"Thank you." Stephen mumbles.  
"No one hurts Mom and gets away with it." Steve replies with a smirk and the sorcerer snorts softly.  
"The kids?"  
"They're waiting for you to let them come see you. Right now they're happy knowing you're home safe, but we can all tell they're getting antsy."  
"Just a little longer."  
Steve smiles softly. "I think they can manage that."  
"Have you _met_ my children?"

The captain grins and gently pats Stephen's blanket covered leg as he returns his attention to his movie.

"Get some rest Mama Bear."


	4. Chapter 4

"No, no, no! Grab her!"

Stephen startles out of sleep and feels Tony moving in front of him, possibly trying to grab something, when Athena wiggles her way between them. He groans quietly when his wolf starts to enthusiastically lick his face, and then reaches up to place his hand on the back of her neck.

"Calm." Stephen commands and Athena immediately lays down and whines while Bucky runs in.  
"I'm sorry! We tried to stop her, but we think she caught a whiff of Mama Bear." The soldier says.  
"It's alright." Stephen gently pats the wolf's head. "How bad do I look?"  
Tony kisses his forehead and grimaces at the bit of wolf saliva left behind. "If we keep your back covered, you won't scare or worry the kids."  
"Scars?" Stephen whispers.  
"...Quill can only do so much babe."  
"It's okay...I appreciate what he did as it is."

Tony made sure to console Stephen about any new scars he had, and that it didn't change how the engineer saw him...but the sorcerer knew. He knew Tony still loved him no matter what was done to him or what permanent reminders stayed behind, because it was the same for Stephen. Tony had his scars from using the infinity stones, and they covered his entire right arm and part way up the side of his neck. Scars from his arc reactor too.

Now Stephen didn't just have the scars on his hands. He had some on his back from the lashings...and the single stab wound Peter gave him when he was taken by Hydra and brainwashed. The boy still couldn't look at it without feeling an immense amount of guilt.

"How about we get you up to a bigger bed before we let the animals see you?" Tony asks and Stephen nods.

Tony then gives Stephen his sling ring and the sorcerer opens a portal to the master bedroom on the family floor once he gets out of bed. His healing wounds were still sore and screamed at him for moving, but he ignored them as he stepped through the gateway with Tony and Athena. Stephen did falter in his step for a mere second, but Tony was there to help steady him and also help the sorcerer change into pajamas that wouldn't irritate his back. Thanks to Quill, the lash marks were healed but the scars that remained were still a little sensitive and would be for a little while longer yet. He was lucky everyone found him when they did or he would forever feel pain in his nerves like Scott did with his neck. It pained Stephen to see the thief in pain like that, but when Quill was around, it was no big deal.

The problem was when the celestial was off planet that Scott suffered the most.

"Do you need anything?"  
Stephen groans quietly when he climbs into bed and settles into the mattress, finally comfortable. "As much as I want to say the kids...I'm more hungry than anything."  
"I think we can do something about that. Get some more rest while you wait." Tony answers and leaves the bedroom after pulling the comforter up to Stephen's shoulders.

It didn't take long for Tony to return with food but that wasn't all he returned with. He brought the kids with him too and that even included Cassie. Harley brought food that he undoubtedly cooked and would be easy to eat and settle in Stephen's stomach, and Cassie, bless her heart, brought him tea. Made correctly to Stephen's tastes. He took the tea first and drank half of it before he was ready for food, and while he ate, the kids waited as patiently as possible for the doctor to finish. Stephen could tell they were itching to snuggle up to him but Tony must have told them not to touch without asking for now.

Which was a good idea. The kids might know that he was hurt while he was held captive, although not _how much_ , and he didn't want his back to be touched for fear of worrying the kids. Stephen did, however, want one of his infamous cuddle sessions. The moment he was finished with his light meal and his tea, he set the dishes on the nightstand and directs all of the kids to the middle of the bed. As soon as they were all touching him in some way or another, Stephen relaxed even more.

"Are you okay?" Peter finally asks.  
"Getting better every day." Stephen answers gently.

It was the truth. He was far from okay when the Avengers found him, but when Tony stayed with him when he asked, he rested easier. Even if Tony had to check on the kids, someone was always in the room with him and Stephen always felt safe even if he wasn't always the best company since he slept a lot. Now he was even more relaxed. His kids and honorary cub were visibly safe with him and Orion had been taken care of.

At least that was what Steve said. Internally, Stephen would turn a blind eye this time if his captor was being held by some of the team members. 

"Mom?" Harley mumbles.  
"Hmm?"  
"Can we stay with you tonight?"  
"Cassie has to save me from Valerie's feet." Tony grumbles. "Being kicked in the face in the middle of the night is no fun."  
Cassie giggles. "I think I can manage that."

=============

When Stephen woke up the next morning, he found all of the kids on their usual places whenever they ended up in the master bedroom. The girls under the covers between Stephen and Tony, Peter sprawled across them on top, and Harley down at the foot of the bed snuggled with Athena. He snuck out of bed this time. Stephen knew he was healed enough to be able to get up and roam around, and he was starting to get antsy the day before to do so. Even he couldn't stay in bed for days on end, so he silently left the bedroom after Harley grumbled when Athena got up to follow her master, but only wrapped the spare blanket he was using around him tighter and continued to sleep.

He closes the bedroom door behind him with a soft click and walks down the stairs after Athena and into the kitchen to feed her and make himself some tea, and then sits on the couch, being ever mindful of his back. Athena joins him on the couch after her breakfast and Stephen huffs when she starts to incessantly nuzzle his face after nudging her head under his arm. There was a very big chance she wouldn't let Stephen out of her sight for a while after the incident. He was only gone for little more than a day, but she always understood when Stephen would be right back or when he would be gone for a few days due to dimension hopping. Sometimes she was allowed to go with him when he went on Sorcerer Supreme errands, and other times she couldn't, but she knew the difference. He either said 'I'll be right back' or 'Be good for the family' depending on how long he would be gone. He said the latter if he was going dimension hopping and didn't intend on taking Athena with him.

"Stop that. I'm home and safe." Stephen pats the wolf's head after she calms down and lays the front half of her body on the sorcerer's lap. "Good girl." He praises.  
"Well so much for my surprise."

Stephen looks toward the elevator and finds Bucky looking over at him with his arms crossed.

"What surprise?" Stephen asks.  
"I was going to make you and everyone else breakfast."  
Stephen smiles softly. "I would still appreciate it. I don't think I have the strength or energy to cook that much yet."  
"Any requests?" Bucky asks as he walks toward the kitchen.  
"Not particularly."  
"How about a note?" Tony says from the level above when he looks over the banister. "I woke up and you weren't in bed. Scared the shit out of me."  
"Sorry." Stephen apologizes.

Tony just sighed and descended the stairs to join Stephen in the living room and carefully wrapped his arm around the doctor's shoulders when he sat down on the side Athena wasn't taking up. He didn't say anything else. Tony only kissed his temple and turned the tv on to a low volume so it wouldn't disturb Stephen while he was reading. Stephen had grown used to tuning out noise while he read or meditated so he hardly noticed. 

"I don't remember seeing Quill in the medbay at all." Stephen brings up about twenty minutes later.  
"He passed out as soon as we got you home safe. He's been sleeping ever since." Tony looks down and pets Athena's head, who grumbles softly at the motion. "He used his powers nonstop since you were taken and even a god like him doesn't have endless amounts of energy."  
"I think he deserves all the Skittles he can eat and a few IOU's from us for what he did." The sorcerer answers and Tony smirks as he kisses his temple again.  
"Way ahead of you Stephanie. He's the reason you're home safe again." Tony looks back up at the tv show. "Well the reason we were able to find you. Everyone worked on finding you and then getting you back."

There was the confirmation. Stephen knew it while in captivity, but to hear that it was actually true from Tony put that much more faith into the team. There was a lot to begin with. Now it was unwavering. He knew if this somehow happened again, they would look for him whether they succeeded or not.

"Which reminds me…" Tony suddenly says and gets up to disappear onto the elevator.

Stephen could only blink. His husband wandered off without any further explanation, and then came back in just a couple minutes to sit back down next to the sorcerer. Without a word, Tony puts Stephen's nanotech bracelet back around his wrist, and taps it gently after he looks up at Stephen.

"From now on, if you need to take this off so I can make repairs, you're not allowed to go anywhere until I fix it. I can't risk losing you again." Tony whispers and Stephen silently nods in agreement. "Besides, I'm pretty sure the kids like you better."  
Stephen scoffs. "Tony--"  
"I'm kidding. I haven't forgotten what you said about the battle with Thanos. I only plan on dying of old age or heart attack because of you and the kids." Tony winces when Stephen smacks the back of his head. "Hey! I'm just being realistic!"  
"Tony doesn't get breakfast." The sorcerer snarks.  
"Roger that." Bucky replies from the kitchen.

Tony smiles at him and Stephen eventually rescinded the order as Bucky got closer to finishing breakfast. The sorcerer dozed off on his husband's shoulder shortly before the kids came down from the master bedroom, and through the haze of the conscious part of his mind, he heard Tony telling them to be quiet so Stephen could get a few minutes of sleep before breakfast. He barely noticed when his book slipped out of his hand and landed on the floor with a dull thud, and vaguely recalled Cassie picking it up while Harley laid a blanket over Stephen.

He had good kids.

The sorcerer completely dropped off to sleep after that, and about twenty minutes later he was being gently shaken awake. Stephen slowly opens his eyes, finding himself laying down completely on the couch with Athena next to him, and then rubs his eyes. Tony must have needed to get up and laid Stephen down without disturbing him because Diana was the one waking him up.

"Mommy, breakfast is ready. Daddy made you a plate before everyone got theirs."  
"Okay, okay. I'm awake. You can go eat." Stephen yawns.

Diana wanders off once Stephen pushes Athena away and sits up, and he grunts at the soreness of his healing wounds when he stretches. He really needed to eat something before he fell asleep again. His plate wasn't in danger of being swiped so he was able to take his time getting up and shuffling to the kitchen to join the rest of the family.

That's what they were. They weren't just acquaintances or friends...they were a family. A family that looked out for each other. Something Stephen was glad to be a part of despite their chaotic energy.

"Honey, eat your eggs before Porcupine swipes them. He's been eyeballing them." Tony warns and Stephen smirks.  
"He can _try_."  
Quill winces. "No thanks. I like living."  
"You're immortal." Natasha points out.  
"I wouldn't put it past him to find a way around that."  
Nat grins. "Point taken."

There was one thing that Stephen had to know. It bugged him more than he originally thought it would.

"Is _he_ still alive?" Stephen asks quietly and everyone looks at each other before answering.  
"Yes." They admit in unison.  
"...do I want to know?"  
" _Nope_." 

Sometimes the unison was scary. Even to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it was fast, but since this is the 100th fic of the series, I wanted it to be a bit longer than usual. Hopefully is was still enjoyable.


End file.
